A/N: I figured it's about time I posted a new chapter. Happy reading!
"Not that. You know what I mean," Drayce said holding up his hand to show her. Steam was pouring out from his claw wounds, the sound of electricity crackling and sizzling. "And if what you are saying is the whole story, then why do I still have this?"
A silence filled the room, only broken by the electricity. Ymir stared steadily at her champion's steaming hand, a severe look upon her face.
"I have permanently locked it inside of you," Ymir replied calmly.
"You did what?" Drayce asked quietly, but the edge in his tone was especially prominent. "Is it not bad enough that I am a mutant, born to kill? Then the power of the titan was then thrust upon me, turning me into a weapon of war. Countless people down on that world fighting to own me for their own benefits?!"
"Yes, which is why you must be the only one who must have this. You are the only that understands this so naturally you would act upon what you trust is right. You were never truly on either side, more of a bystander caught in crossfire. I sought you because of your loyalty and your skills to lead, nothing more, nothing less," Ymir shot back.
Drayce's glare lessened as he began to see what Ymir saw.
"It was never about your powers or peculiarities when I chose you. I chose you for your core morals, your power were just a side benefit. Give me the package that Palos gave you," Ymir asked, holding out her hand.
Drayce handed over the package to Ymir, watching as she unwrapped it. A several clear colored stones were revealed. Picking up all five of them, Ymir studied them before scooping four of them into a pouch. The fifth one was left on the table. Reaching out her hand, the stone began to levitate and float towards Drayce.
"Once every century, these stones, millennial crystals, will be created. An extremely rare crystal that is the core of every titan shifter. We spent over a century gathering as many as we could. Each one is special, tailored specifically to each titan," Ymir said. "This stone will counteract your curse. It will prevent your body from degrading. Take it."
Drayce reached out to grab the stone. As he did, the color began to change. It glowed an intense white, gradually turning into a golden yellow color. The stone floated in the air, a yellow aura surrounding it. It swirled around in the air before completely disappearing. A yellow streak flew around him. Drayce eyed the yellow streak warily, unsure what to do. Without warning, the streak pierced his chest.
Drayce staggered back in shock. His breathing turned heavy, a fatigue washed over him causing him to fall over. An intense burning feeling situated itself where his sternum was. The burning swirled to every inch of his body as if an inferno had consumed him. His eyes began glow a pure yellow color. As quickly as it began, cool pleasantness began to wash over his body, the pain and fatigue fading. Groaning, he pushed himself off the floor and faced Ymir.
"Well, how was it?" she asked.
"Zero out of ten would do that again," he groaned, rubbing his eyes. "That was painful and tiring."
"I suggest you get some rest then. Feel free to explore when you wake up if you wish," Ymir replied.
"I'm good. I think I'll go explore. Not that tired now," Drayce replied. "There's still something I have to take care of."
"Very well. Return before sunset. There is another matter we must attend too and after that, Rose will show you to your room," Ymir called out to the shrinking form of Drayce.
"Annie! Time!"
Annie lands on the floor breathing hard, her swords at her side.
"New record!" Armin called out. "Five minutes and twenty one seconds. That's pretty good! Your time went down by sixteen seconds."
"Eh, I botched the fifth target. I could've gotten a faster time," Annie replies, sheathing her blades. "I'm going to get some water before Ackerman starts. I still want to see who wins the bet."
She begins to walk towards the water pump, wiping sweat from her forehead. The stones crunched beneath her feet as she walked down the path. She turned to look at his gravestone. Vines were beginning to snake their way up, covering the name. Walking over, she pulled the tendrils of the stone piece. The air began to change, her hair at the back of her neck stood up. Turning around, there was a figure wearing a black cloak. The cloak covered the person's face, protecting the identity.
"Who are you?" Annie asked, hand inching towards her swords.
"There is no need for violence. I'm simply here to reclaim what was once mine," the man spoke, his voice was deep and distorted.
In a flash of white, he disappeared from the spot he was standing. Annie's eyes widened in shock. She pulled out her swords and began to scan the environment. Where did he go?! There was no way anyone could've done that.
"Where are you?" she shouted angrily.
"So touchy. You remind me of someone," the man spoke again, his voice coming from the tree behind her.
Whirling around, she fired her anchor at the tree and reeling in to slash at the man. Faster than the eye could see, the man jumped from his position, backflipping towards bis grave and taking the sword.
"Give that back to me," Annie said darkly, clutching her blades tighter.
Silence.
"I SAID GIVE IT BACK TO ME YOU SON OF A BITCH," she screamed swinging her swords upward.
The man blocked both blades with the katana's sheath, pushing downwards, easily shattering the blades.
'How is he this powerful?!' Annie thought, recoiling. 'Wait! Mikasa?!'
The raven haired girl spun out of tree, blades whirling, a steely look on her face. The man turned and raised an arm to block the blow. Her blades shattered as she made contact.
'What the-?!' Mikasa thought shocked. Looking back, she could see why.
The man's arm was armored with crystal. A black imprint could clearly be seen on the shoulder. A dragon standing on its hind legs, arms reared out. He stepped back and the rest of the cloak began to contract and smoothen. Within a few seconds, he was completely outfitted with the crystal armor.
"Hey. That's my brother's sword. Put it back unless you want to see my specially diced meat," Mikasa snarls.
"I'm sorry. I truly am, but your request isn't something I can do," the man spoke, but somehow his voice sounded pained.
In another flash of white, he was gone. Annie and Mikasa both looked at each other before running to the castle.
"Who the hell was he?" Mikasa asks.
"Does it look like I know," Annie growls. "He's going to pay for what he did."
"Ackerman, Leonhart! Explain," Levi ordered, walking out with Armin tailing behind.
"A man wearing a suit of crystal armor attacked and stole Drayce's katana," Mikasa said.
"No. He never attacked. All he did was disarm us and take the blade. He can teleport as well," Annie said.
"Gaylent's ability?" Levi asked.
"No. He disappears in a flash of white. No portal at all," Mikasa says.
"You two. Report to Four Eyes," Levi begins. "The sword is the least of our worries right now. For now, we need to find out who he is and whose side he's on."
Annie and Mikasa nods before running back into the castle, unable to wrap their minds over what occurred. The two barged into Hange's office, causing the scientist to jump up in surprise and spill her bottle of ink.
"Oh, sorry about that," Mikasa says. "Hange, we were visited by an unknown suspect."
The scientist frowned and put on her glasses, her hand black from the spilled ink.
"Care to elaborate? Some more information would be nice," Hange said, wiping down herself and the desk with a wet cloth.
"We think the person that stole Drayce's sword just now is the same person that is killing the Marley officials," Annie explains. "He was wearing a suit of lucindia armor. The arrow used to kill the spies were made of the same material."
"How is that possible? We only know of two things that can break the lucindia and that's either dark steel or lucindia itself," Hange replied.
"He might've taken the sword to try and carve out more pieces of it, but that on it own doesn't make sense. Who uses a sword to cut something?" Mikasa asks.
"Um, we use swords to cut titans' napes," Annie replies.
"You know what I mean!" Mikasa exclaims.
"He did say something about taking back something that was once his," Annie said. "How many people do you know that can lug around a twenty pound sword all day?"
"True but we don't know how many people before Drayce had the sword. Somehow all of this doesn't make any sense. Why the murders so suddenly? Why not the moment they arrived? There is something we're missing. We just can't figure out what it is," Hange murmurs, adjusting her glasses.
Ymir paced back and forth, Drayce standing in front of her.
"Do you know what could've happened? All that for a sword?!" she asks angrily.
"This sword has more meaning to me than you think," Drayce replies.
"I'm not angry about that. I'm angry that you didn't allow any precautions before going in. You let yourself be seen!" Ymir scolded. "You could have the very least asked Megan to go with you."
"I'm sorry Ymir. It's just that if this sword falls into the wrong hands, it can potentially expose all of us, not just me," Drayce apologizes.
Ymir waves her hand dismissively. "What's done is done. It doesn't matter anymore. We need to focus on the coming war. We have nine sectors ready but only six of them can be commanded. The guild isn't complete."
"So you want me to find three other people to lead the remaining three sectors?" Drayce asks.
Ymir nods. "We sent the rest of your friends searching but none of them found any viable candidates. We were hoping you might know some people."
"When do you want me to start?"
"As soon as possible. Helos has been getting impatient lately. He's been sending me quite a lot of mail, asking if we've found anyone yet," Ymir said lightly.
"All right then. I'll report back to you at sundown," Drayce replies before taking his leave.
He teleports to the central table and grabs a quill and a piece of parchment. Dipping the quill into the ink, he stares thoughtfully at the paper before scratching out three names. Satisfied, he stands up and walks to Sina's desk.
"Sina, I need a favor. Can you tell me where these people are at? Ymir is looking for suitable candidates to finish the guild. I believe they will do well," Drayce says.
"No problem at all! Just give me a minute to find them real quick," Sina says, holding out her hand.
Three scrolls zoom into her hands from deep within the shelves. Unrolling them, she scans the seemingly unending roll of parchment. Looking back and forth between the scrolls and paper, she eventually scribbles down two locations.
"These two live together. He lives fairly close to them as well. Wouldn't take much. If he isn't home, I suggest you try your luck at the park with him. He goes there quite often," Sina says, handing him the piece of parchment back.
"Thanks Sina!" Drayce says before running towards the center hatch.
Dropping down, he spreads his wings into a glide and floats out the main gates.
"Charles, Luttrell. Hold the gates open a little longer will you? I have an errand to run," Drayce says. "I'll be back either before or at sundown."
"Yes sir!" the two reply.
"Don't call me sir. It makes me feel old," Drayce complains.
"Sure thing then," Luttrell says. "We'll wait for your return."
Drayce nods and jumps off the ledge and soars off towards the far end of Valkern. He fumbles with the sheet before veering of to the right. Why did they have to live so far away? He circles around a spiraling tower before landing. He ducks into the small alley before pulling on his cloak.
'First up, 83 Albedo Lane,' he thinks as he steps up to the door.
He pulls back the knocker and sharply taps on the door three times. Shuffling footsteps could be heard as the person approached the door. A man who looked like he was in his early twenties opened the door. He had light gray eyes with dark blonde hair, the bangs hanging over between his eyes.
"What do you want?" he asked in an annoyed tone.
"Furlan Church and Isabel Magnolia, residents of 83 Albedo Lane?" Drayce asked.
"Yes, that would be us. Who are you?" Furlan asked tilting his head to the side.
"Furlan who's at the door?" asked a girl's voice from inside the house.
"..."
"What's your business here?" Furlan asked. "If it isn't anything reasonable, kindly leave our property."
"Furlan, you're too serious," Isabel said, swinging around the door frame. "Who are you?"
"You two are exactly like I remember you," Drayce said, taking off his hood. "Always suspicious of everyone. Can't I greet an old friend?"
"Dr-Drayce?" Furlan asks surprised.
"The one and only. Aren't you going to invite me in?" he asks, a smile on his face.
Barley finishing his sentence, Isabel takes his arm and drags him in, Furlan closing the door behind them.
"You are going to tell us what has happened," Isabel said, throwing him onto the couch.
"Not everything," Furlan corrects her. "Just the important parts. I'm sure you wouldn't have come all the way out here just to say hi."
"You're no fun," Isabel says, pouting.
"First thing first, Levi is fine. Well, the last time I saw him anyways. Anyways, how's the afterlife?" Drayce asks.
"Fine. A little boring but we could ask the same thing about you," Furlan replies.
"Oh, counting down the days until I get out of here," Drayce says.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Isabel asks confused. "We're dead."
Furlan eyes widen as he figure out what Drayce means.
"Come to Palkin Yard tonight if you want to find out," Drayce smirks before teleporting out of their house.
"Uh, Furlan. Is he going crazy?" Isabel asks, staring at the spot where he was just sitting at.
Drayce walks down Palkin Road towards the empty grass lot. A single bench sits alone in the yard, a single occupant sitting on it. Drayce walks slowly to the bench and takes a seat besides the boy.
"I miss down there," Drayce tells the boy.
"Yeah, so do I," the freckled boy says, looking up to the stars. "The world is so big anything can happen. It's just hard to imagine that some of your closest friends would betray you."
"I know what you mean. I've been there," Drayce replies. "How'd you get here?"
"Titans."
"I'm sorry. Did you fight well?" Drayce asks.
A dry laugh escapes the boy. "Barely. My gear was taken off by some of my friends. One of them had a boyfriend. I can only imagine how it feels for him if he finds out," he says.
"Eh, it wasn't too bad. Annie did join our side though. Imagine how I felt when I found out about Bertholt and Reiner," Drayce says.
Marco turns to stare at him in shock. Drayce takes off his hood and turns to his friend.
"Believe me, look at where the results got me," Drayce said.
"Wha? How?" Marco stutters. "Don't tell me they killed you?!"
"Whaaat?" Drayce asked, his turn to be confused.
"Annie. Reiner forced her to take off my gear. He said he would kill you if she didn't," Marco said. "They killed you?!"
"Oh, naw. I sacrificed myself to save the rest of the gang after Reiner and Bertholt revealed themselves," Drayce said. "Used the rest of my titan's power but don't expect me to stay here forever. I got a life to live and so do you. You coming?"
"Wha..?!"Marco's mouth only got bigger and bigger but nevertheless nodded in agreement.
"Good. Meet me back here tonight," Drayce says before flashing away.
